May 21, 2025 • 26 mins
(May 21, 2025)
Senate fight over gas-powered vehicles in California is also a filibuster showdown. College boom towns go bust as enrollment declines have battered local economies. Dr. Jim Keany, Chief Medical Officer at Dignity Health St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, joins The Bill Handel Show for 'Medical News'! Dr. Keany talks with Bill about
Senate fight over gas-powered vehicles in California is also a filibuster showdown. College boom towns go bust as enrollment declines have battered local economies. Dr. Jim Keany, Chief Medical Officer at Dignity Health St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, joins The Bill Handel Show for 'Medical News'! Dr. Keany talks with Bill about
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to kf I AM six forty the Bill
Handles show on demand on the iHeartRadio f It is
a Wednesday morning, May twenty one, Humpday. Coming up to
the bottom of the hour, doctor Jim Keeney is going
to be with us, and of course the topic that
we're going to talk about is the PSA test.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Joe Biden with his stage nine cancer.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Now to be fair with President Trump standing saying it's
a stage nine cancer.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
All everybody went crazy. It only goes to stage four.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
There are the various ways of measuring prostate cancer. One
is the Gleason test, which is very few people know about.
That was number nine out of ten on the Gleason test,
rattle of eleven. And there are other tests too, So
it wasn't was it a gaff He was just referring
to another test, not really knowing much about it, because you,
of course are all experts on PSA tests and the
(00:54):
way they describe prostate cancer.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Right, Okay, there is a fight going on and it's
always the.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Certainly as the Trump administration started, both Trump Administration number
one and now number two. And that's the fight between
California and the administration and Republicans, although now there's no
difference between the two. And so what Center Republicans are
trying to do today is they're going to overturn California's
(01:23):
vehicle emissions law, landmark law, using a federal statute.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
This really pretty obscure.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
That allows Congress to strike down regulations, and Democrats are
saying that erodes the filibuster. And this really has to
do not only with striking down California's emission laws. And
you've got Republicans that are going, how dare California? You know,
for one thing, what was the number two Republican in
(01:52):
the Senate says that California is trying to force feed
the American public electric vehicles the public doesn't want and
can't afford.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Well, if they can't afford it, they don't buy the vehicles.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
It's not that complicated, except that by twenty thirty five,
California is phasing out all non electric vehicle sales. So
I guess to some extent he's right. But let me
tell you what's so important about this, and that is
far more important than the actual rule itself phasing out
(02:26):
electric vehicles is the elimination of the filibuster. The filibuster
allows the opposite party to basically keep on debate forever,
which means the Senate has to have a sixty percent
majority to pass.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
The bill to overcome a filibuster.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Otherwise, any senator can say we want debate, I want
more debate, and when that debate is finished, the senator
can introduce the motion or demand some more debate so
it can go on forever. So basically, a filibuster rule
kills any law that doesn't make sixty percent. Well, the
Democrats in twenty thirteen passed a law that said, in
(03:15):
certain cases you don't need you can undo the filibuster,
and it's just a simple majority, okay, which changes the
rules completely. Now it's not unlimited. It is limited to
certain things, for example, judicial review. Simple majority. This is
how Trump got his three Supreme Court justices. If it
(03:37):
were a sixty percent rule, which it used to be,
you wouldn't see these conservative judges go in You wouldn't
see super liberal judges go in there and be some
moderation there.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Not anymore if a.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Party has the majority one senator and it happens to
be a conservative person, much like Donald Trump, controls the pon.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
He gets who he wants. He gets who he wants,
doesn't matter, look at the cabinet. He gets who he wants.
And so at this point, what the Senator is saying, you.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Know what, Trump is getting what he wants, and that
is to undo California's rules regarding the the zero emissions
vehicles law. And the way, Oh Scott, is so funny
the way the super Republicans who by the way, backed
(04:34):
up getting rid of the filibuster with the majority backed
it up, are fanatic anti filibusters, right, fanatic what they're
or fanatic pro filibusters. I'm sorry, here's what they're saying
about this. This really, this is so narrow that you
really can't compare it to general rules.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
That's it. It's just a very narrow, narrow pinician.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
And that's why we're going to let this go through,
and we are going to do this on a simple majority.
The rules are changing completely. It's becoming more and more parallel,
more and more polarized. And the shame of it is
is that it just so happened. If you want to
call it a shame, if you happen to be a
MAGA supporter, it's the greatest thing in the world for you.
(05:21):
Donald Trump, probably the luckiest man who has ever been
president in the United States, not only was able to
kill any legal action against him, kill any illegal action,
and has now an enemy's list saying you went against me,
We're investigating you, I'm going after you. And if you're
a Republican and you don't support me, I'm going to
(05:44):
primary you out.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Has complete control.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
So all the legal issues are his conviction means nothing.
He has investigations mean nothing. They basically had him on
the document's case as soon as he became president, and
he got three Supreme Court nominees through in one term.
(06:09):
There are presidents that get zero through. He got three
his first term, and they were in their fifties. And
so one of the legacies of Donald Trump is that
his Supreme Court philosophy is going to last for thirty
years long after he's dead, not quite when he's finished
(06:32):
with his fifth term as president, because when it comes
to President Trump, it is a lifetime appointment. And we
know that, Oh man, Okay, that's enough depressing stuff. You know,
I want to get a little happier coming up next segment.
And if you happen to live in a college town.
(06:54):
Your town is dying and you're going to have nowhere,
and your your house values is dropped in half, and
you might as well just kill yourself. Now, all right,
we're gonna do a up segment with Bill on the
Bill Handle Show, coming right.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Up, and then don't forget Bottom of the Hour. Jim Keeney, who.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Will tell you how you're going to die within a week.
It's good stuff coming up. Will is dancing around. That's
really impressive. Will jeez, you look like a rapper, right, yeah, yeah,
you look like a thin black rapper. That's the Yeah,
good for you. Okay, where were we? Oh? Yes, we're
(07:38):
talking about college boomtowns that are no longer college boom towns.
One of the things about going to college is it
has gotten very expensive. Number two and automatic good job
coming out of college is it's not there anymore. There
is no guarantee used to be used to be that
(07:58):
you would get into a pretty decent job, entry level jobs.
I just did a segment on how there are no
entry level jobs left anymore, relatively few. So what ends
up happening? What happens to those college towns. Well, when
universities on these college shower. At these college towns start
losing students, that means less money is being spent.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Well, let me give you an example.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Western Illinois University. A couple of years ago, there was
a dorm that held eight hundred students. It's now a
police training ground. Dorms nearby. Actually, frat houses have been raised.
The students used to rent them big houses. No one's
there anymore. Caleb McGruder, who worked twenty eight years for
(08:46):
the campus police at Western Illinois, said, it's almost like
you're watching the town die.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
It's real simple.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
McComb is at the heart of a new rust belt,
and what's happening is us colleges are going downhill in
terms of the amount of money. Look what's happening with
the freezes and the research grant and look what's happening
with people not going to college anymore because it's so expensive.
And when you have fewer students, you have to raise
the rents or raise the rates, raise the tuition to
(09:15):
keep things going. And it's this circle that goes all
the way down. My law school is no longer my
law school. It's defunct. And if you go to the
campus where my law school was it's empty, there's nobody there.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
And this is happening all over the country.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Now.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
The interesting part, if you find it interesting.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Is that the high end schools, the Ivys, the Ivy
League schools, the Harvard's, the standards, they are getting more
applications than ever before ever. But when you have schools
at a lower tier, it's fewer and fewer applications, fewer
and fewer students going to school because they realize that
(09:58):
a college degree isn't worth what it used to be.
Let's get a vocational certificate, which I did a segment
even that, I mean, all of it is.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Very, very tough today. I mean it's you know, we're
in a whole new world now.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
The UN and studying International business or the World Business
Forum says AI is going to create seventy eight million
new jobs. But that's over the course of years. In
the meantime, if you've lost your job, that's right now.
And these little towns that so relied, little college towns,
(10:39):
so relied on the college.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
In town nearby town.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
To support them, to support the small businesses, to support
the police departments, to to support the city because of
the taxes that were generated because there were so many students.
That's become tougher and tougher, so many students are opting out. Well, today,
if you go to a private college today, UCLA or
(11:05):
any private school, tuition can be thirty forty fifty thousand
dollars a year tuition. Forget about room and board, forget
about books and supplies.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
I don't even know if they do books anymore where
it's all internet. I know when I went.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
To school, the law books were three and four hundred
dollars books.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
What is that about? I couldn't believe it? And today, well, how.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Much is if my law school were still around. I
wonder how much tuition would be. I have no idea,
but it wouldn't be cheap because it was a private
law school. I know UCLA is fifty thousand dollars a
year tuition at law school or medical school. All right,
enough of depression. Oh yeah, Jim Kinney coming up. So
(12:00):
what we're gonna do is we're gonna dive into the
concept of a spongey prostates. We're actually not going to
dive into it, We're gonna talk about it and what's
the connection between a spongey prostate and a PSA test?
Speaker 2 (12:15):
And a prostate cancer.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
I'll explain, or Jim will explain, and it all does
tie together.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Spongy prostates.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
That sounds like a dessert, that sounds like an Italian dessert.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
You know what, I Am not going to go there.
I mean, I'm telling Neil, Neil, I we are not
going there. I am stopping you from going there. Calendar
this cono or and would you please handle is stopping
Neil from going there? Bill handle here on a Wednesday morning,
(12:50):
May twenty one, and as always on Wednesday, last two
segments of the show, we do a medical couple of
segments Doctor Jim Keaty, chief Medical Officers for Dignity Saint
Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, and.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
An er doc.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Now, just prior to the segment, I do know if
you listen to my promo, we are going to talk
about spongy prostates and PSA tests and prostate cancer. And
I know that you came very close to being a
proctologist because well, you know, for obvious reasons, and I
(13:27):
think you reluctantly, reluctantly chose er.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Correct exactly I did. Yeah, yeah, do.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
You get by the way, as an er doc, do
you have the opportunity to check out spongy prostates.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Yeah, we do tech check prostates because, yeah, I mean,
people get prostatitis, which is an infection of the prostate,
and it can get really severe they get septic from it.
So okay, right, we check from that.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
I was going to go into some kind of humor there,
but obviously it didn't work out. But one of the
things about you know this that I make a joke
about spongy prostates is that what eighty five percent of
men suffer from that after if you want to call
it suffering at the age of seventy or seventy five,
that's sort of a given. And that relates directly into
the x number of men who suffer from prostate cancer,
(14:19):
which is a huge number. And why that really doesn't
concern doctors all that much and PSA tests and how
important they are or not, and Joe Biden, I know
there's a lot of stuff going on, but can you
put all of that together and sort of explain what's
going on?
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Sure? Okay, So, first of all, the prostate is a
gland in males, right, and it's in the low pelvis,
and so it produces semen, not sperm and so it
has a function. It's a donut shape in the urethra.
The tube that you pee through goes right through the
middle of that. So you know, the first condition we
(14:58):
see in men is usually benign prostatic hyperchaphere or you know,
in large prostate, and that can get so big that
it actually squeezes off the tube and people have trouble,
trouble urinating. That can progress. I mean it's almost like
a progression or you know, an irritate, irritated prostate or
you can go straight to prostate cancer without having UH
(15:21):
in large prostate. And so you know, what what doctors
do is we check a PSA, which is a prostate
specific antigen, and as that goes up, your risk for
prostate cancer goes up as well.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
UH.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
They also do UH. Contrary to I guess what your
doctor says to you, they don't. We do prostate exams
and UH and look for a largement of the prostate
or irregularities bumps, you know, hard nodules. Now, most prostate
cancer would not be reachable there, but some of it would.
So for a simple, quick, easy, cheap test, you know,
(15:55):
why why would we slip it?
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Basically, so why are we hearing now in terms of
Joe Biden, last time he got a prostate exam was
or PSA exam was in twenty fourteen.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Ten years ago.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Following that, we're getting information and this is what's being
reported on the major news outlets that over seventy, which
he was at that time, it's not really necessary and
not even suggested that a PSA test is given for
men over seventy.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Explain all that and is that true?
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Well, I mean PSA tests are complicated as far as
you know when you get them and who you get
them in, so it's really very case dependent in some ways.
But I think in general prostate PSA is a good
test to follow whether someone that risk for prostate cancer.
So honestly, I don't see why he's gone fourteen years
(16:53):
without getting a PSA. I think most doctors nowadays, most
primary care doctor will test your PSA on an annual basis,
just part of your normal annual physical exam. There's a
lot of arguments that that results in over overtesting, right,
it results in now we got somebody worried because their
PSA has gone up, and now they're either going to
(17:16):
get nuclear scans or MRIs and ultimately get biopsies and
are we finding unnecessary cancer? And it turns out that
we do find a lot of I mean not unnecessary,
insignificant cancer. So you know, we've heard now everybody's going
to know what a Gleason score is now because of
President Biden, and that is how severe the prostate cancer is.
(17:38):
So for a Gleason, if we do a biopsy and
find a Gleason score of six or under, they're just
going to watch that. We're not going to it is cancer,
but it's a low grade cancer. We're just going to
watch it. And in those cases, their PSA will be
elevated typically not always, but but typically. So you know,
it's like I said, I could go on and on.
It's complicated. But in his case, you know, if he
(17:59):
had an elevated ps say and got a biop see
the biops he showed a glease in nine, maybe they
showed that two years ago, they would have been much
more aggressive in treatment with him earlier.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Okay, so they're now talking, we're gonna do this last one.
Then we're gonna go into a bunch of other fun topics.
And that is it is being described as a stage
four cancer which is basically, as far as I understand,
the worst stage you can be in.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
That's the last one before you basically die.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
And the doctor and a couple of the doctors who
interviewed saying, even though and it's metastasized to the bone
on top of that is that this is certainly it
can be controlled, and they're not giving us the prognosis.
But it seemed like they're spinning something. You know, it's
sort of a happy camper kind of spin on it.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Yeah, it's so individualized, it's very hard to know. Okay, mean,
if you take all comers for prostate cancer, including the worst,
you know, aggressive cancers, the five years arrival rate is
about a third, right, But that's the most aggressive ones
mixed in with pretty minor ones. Now, this is a
very aggressive cancer, but it's responsive supposedly to hormone treatment.
(19:06):
So what we do is that means that that testosterone
is a hormone that just amplifies it makes it grow.
So we essentially chemically castrate the person and stop them
from making testosterone, and a lot of times that will
stop the cancer from growing. So those people can survive
quite a long time without any additional problems. Because of that,
(19:29):
so it remains to be seen. We'll know a lot
more in about six months or a year when we say, okay,
he's been treated this way and here's what we've seen.
Your immune system can go after cancer and if we
can stop the growth, then maybe it can keep it
in check. He won't get prosettectomy at this point because
the cat's out of the bag. Trying to remove the
(19:50):
prostate now just results in complications and side effects without
any benefit.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Fair enough, and we're going to know the kind of treatment,
how expensive treatment.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Is because of the size of his breast growing. Do
I have that right?
Speaker 3 (20:06):
That's different than getting estra?
Speaker 1 (20:08):
No?
Speaker 3 (20:08):
I don't think God.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Okay, So there I am doctor Handle once again. All right,
coming back, This is fun and I'm going you came
up with this and that I'm gonna read this verbatim.
Good vibrations, a buzzing capsule that relieves constipation, and somehow
I'm going to tie that back into spongy prostates, if
you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
I'll be right back, Bill Handle.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
As we end our Wednesday show, May twenty one, Gary
and Shannon coming up at the top of the hour,
and back we go.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
As we always do.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Around this time on Wednesday, doctor Jim Keeney's chief medical
officers for Dignity Saint Mary Medical Center in Long Beach,
and an er doc. All right, this one, Jim, you
know I had to jump on this one. Good vibrations
coma a buzzing capsule that relievestation. Not even ask you
(21:02):
a question on that one other than hey, you take
it from here.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Yeah. Once I saw that article, I jumped up immediately
called an and said, I have an article for Bill Handle.
This is this is his material right here. So yeah,
so this is I love simple and you know, simple things,
low cost and something that's easy that solves a problem. Right,
instead of taking all these chemicals and drugs for constipation,
(21:30):
which a lot of people suffer from, they have a
vibrating pill. You just swallow this pill. It vibrates, that
stimulates the intestines, and it's apparently very effective with almost
no side effects for relieving constipation. Now, in the study,
the reason people dropped out of the study is they
required them to dig for the pill to reuse it,
(21:51):
and when people were told they had to do that,
they dropped out.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Yeah that makes sense. Is that because the pill was
so expensive.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
I think they just only had so many prototypes, right,
so we gotta we got to use this again if
you want.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
To reuse it. Yeah, that's funny.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Although whenever you do, if I'm not mistaken, there is
what what's the test that you take with a pill?
Speaker 2 (22:14):
A camera that goes down to.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
Colon cancer testing? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Yeah, but that you know, but you don't hunt for it.
They just let that one go.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
So what's the technology? I mean, did the article go
beyond that?
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Is? I'm assuming there's some kind of battery power in there,
and of course down they do. You know, the miniaturization
is crazy with the technology. Is it a Mexican jumping
bean with a little worm that squirms around inside the capsule?
Speaker 2 (22:43):
I don't.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
I mean, honestly, I just assumed it was, you know,
basic vibrator technology miniaturized into a pill.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Wow, it's pretty impressive, I guess.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
Yeah. Yeah, so it's it isn't available just out there.
You go the drug store and go, I'd like the
vibrating pill.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
No, it's a study. So I do not recommend anybody
swallowing their their small vibrators for constipation. But it's a
study and it's not commercially available yet, but it looks
like it's well on the way because I mean, look,
with minimal side effects, safety profile is going to be
very good, and so the FDA should approve it as
a medical device.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Let's talk about people swallowing me their big vibrators medically.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
Why did I put in my mouth.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
You doing?
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Thank you for that? That was a puffball.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
That was a softball, Jim, all right? Uh, moving on
gene editing in a live person. Now, that one intrigues
me because, uh, gene I didn't go with that one.
I didn't quite understand. Does that mean gene editing and
dead people is the norm?
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Explain that.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
So up until this patient, all we've ever done is
that everybody's heard now Crisper technology, which is where you
take and you take a repeating gene to be able
to insert a new gene into a human cell and
you can change the DNA that way. We've never done
it in a person up until a couple months ago,
and this is now published. First time ever they injected
(24:22):
the Crisper mechanisms into an infant. This infant was doomed
for a horrible life right there. So there's a metabolic
disorder where you can't you can't process protein and you
end up building up ammonia in your body. You go
in deoliver failure. As it goes slowly, it can also
cause encephalitis and brain damage, so a horrible disease and
(24:45):
you literally can't eat protein. And this baby. What they
did is they injected the fix for that because there's
a genetic disorder that can't process protein in one gene.
So they went ahead and injected the Crisper technology to
fix this one genetic defect, and now the child is
able to tolerate. Now, you know, everybody thinks it's clean,
(25:05):
like black and white, like now every cell in the
body will be fixed. So it doesn't quite work that way,
but there's an improvement, and there's enough improvement that the
child able to eat protein, is able to have a
low ammonia level, so no damage to body organs. And
this is it's crazy. So this is amazing leap forward
(25:26):
in technology. This is personalized medicine where we're going to
be able to fix genetic disorders in the future by
injecting this mechanism into the body and allowing it to
alter your DNA. That's that's one thing. Right. In the past,
we've we've been very hesitant and still are hesitant about
what do we You know, you alter somebody's DNA that
can be permanent. If it goes haywire, we're in big trouble.
(25:47):
But in this case, you know is able to save
this child.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Yeah, you're in a field where the technology explodes day today,
which is kind of neat and which I really enjoy
talk to you about it every weekend and off the era.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
We talk and I make fun of you too. Jim
will catch you next week as always. All right, all right,
you have a good one.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Jim Keeney, chief medical Officer for Dignity Saint Mary Medical
Center in Long Beach. We're done, guys. That is it
back again tomorrow. I don't know if Amy's coming back
or not, but Heather will be with us if not,
and we will continue on Gary and Shannon up next
and we'll see him Maniana.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
You've been listening to the Bill Handle Show.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Catch My show Monday through Friday six am to nine am,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
You're listening to kf I AM six forty the Bill
Handles show on demand on the iHeartRadio f It is
a Wednesday morning, May twenty one, Humpday. Coming up to
the bottom of the hour, doctor Jim Keeney is going
to be with us, and of course the topic that
we're going to talk about is the PSA test.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Joe Biden with his stage nine cancer.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Now to be fair with President Trump standing saying it's
a stage nine cancer.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
All everybody went crazy. It only goes to stage four.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
There are the various ways of measuring prostate cancer. One
is the Gleason test, which is very few people know about.
That was number nine out of ten on the Gleason test,
rattle of eleven. And there are other tests too, So
it wasn't was it a gaff He was just referring
to another test, not really knowing much about it, because you,
of course are all experts on PSA tests and the
(00:54):
way they describe prostate cancer.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Right, Okay, there is a fight going on and it's
always the.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Certainly as the Trump administration started, both Trump Administration number
one and now number two. And that's the fight between
California and the administration and Republicans, although now there's no
difference between the two. And so what Center Republicans are
trying to do today is they're going to overturn California's
(01:23):
vehicle emissions law, landmark law, using a federal statute.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
This really pretty obscure.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
That allows Congress to strike down regulations, and Democrats are
saying that erodes the filibuster. And this really has to
do not only with striking down California's emission laws. And
you've got Republicans that are going, how dare California? You know,
for one thing, what was the number two Republican in
(01:52):
the Senate says that California is trying to force feed
the American public electric vehicles the public doesn't want and
can't afford.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Well, if they can't afford it, they don't buy the vehicles.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
It's not that complicated, except that by twenty thirty five,
California is phasing out all non electric vehicle sales. So
I guess to some extent he's right. But let me
tell you what's so important about this, and that is
far more important than the actual rule itself phasing out
(02:26):
electric vehicles is the elimination of the filibuster. The filibuster
allows the opposite party to basically keep on debate forever,
which means the Senate has to have a sixty percent
majority to pass.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
The bill to overcome a filibuster.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Otherwise, any senator can say we want debate, I want
more debate, and when that debate is finished, the senator
can introduce the motion or demand some more debate so
it can go on forever. So basically, a filibuster rule
kills any law that doesn't make sixty percent. Well, the
Democrats in twenty thirteen passed a law that said, in
(03:15):
certain cases you don't need you can undo the filibuster,
and it's just a simple majority, okay, which changes the
rules completely. Now it's not unlimited. It is limited to
certain things, for example, judicial review. Simple majority. This is
how Trump got his three Supreme Court justices. If it
(03:37):
were a sixty percent rule, which it used to be,
you wouldn't see these conservative judges go in You wouldn't
see super liberal judges go in there and be some
moderation there.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Not anymore if a.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Party has the majority one senator and it happens to
be a conservative person, much like Donald Trump, controls the pon.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
He gets who he wants. He gets who he wants,
doesn't matter, look at the cabinet. He gets who he wants.
And so at this point, what the Senator is saying, you.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Know what, Trump is getting what he wants, and that
is to undo California's rules regarding the the zero emissions
vehicles law. And the way, Oh Scott, is so funny
the way the super Republicans who by the way, backed
(04:34):
up getting rid of the filibuster with the majority backed
it up, are fanatic anti filibusters, right, fanatic what they're
or fanatic pro filibusters. I'm sorry, here's what they're saying
about this. This really, this is so narrow that you
really can't compare it to general rules.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
That's it. It's just a very narrow, narrow pinician.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
And that's why we're going to let this go through,
and we are going to do this on a simple majority.
The rules are changing completely. It's becoming more and more parallel,
more and more polarized. And the shame of it is
is that it just so happened. If you want to
call it a shame, if you happen to be a
MAGA supporter, it's the greatest thing in the world for you.
(05:21):
Donald Trump, probably the luckiest man who has ever been
president in the United States, not only was able to
kill any legal action against him, kill any illegal action,
and has now an enemy's list saying you went against me,
We're investigating you, I'm going after you. And if you're
a Republican and you don't support me, I'm going to
(05:44):
primary you out.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Has complete control.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
So all the legal issues are his conviction means nothing.
He has investigations mean nothing. They basically had him on
the document's case as soon as he became president, and
he got three Supreme Court nominees through in one term.
(06:09):
There are presidents that get zero through. He got three
his first term, and they were in their fifties. And
so one of the legacies of Donald Trump is that
his Supreme Court philosophy is going to last for thirty
years long after he's dead, not quite when he's finished
(06:32):
with his fifth term as president, because when it comes
to President Trump, it is a lifetime appointment. And we
know that, Oh man, Okay, that's enough depressing stuff. You know,
I want to get a little happier coming up next segment.
And if you happen to live in a college town.
(06:54):
Your town is dying and you're going to have nowhere,
and your your house values is dropped in half, and
you might as well just kill yourself. Now, all right,
we're gonna do a up segment with Bill on the
Bill Handle Show, coming right.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Up, and then don't forget Bottom of the Hour. Jim Keeney, who.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Will tell you how you're going to die within a week.
It's good stuff coming up. Will is dancing around. That's
really impressive. Will jeez, you look like a rapper, right, yeah, yeah,
you look like a thin black rapper. That's the Yeah,
good for you. Okay, where were we? Oh? Yes, we're
(07:38):
talking about college boomtowns that are no longer college boom towns.
One of the things about going to college is it
has gotten very expensive. Number two and automatic good job
coming out of college is it's not there anymore. There
is no guarantee used to be used to be that
(07:58):
you would get into a pretty decent job, entry level jobs.
I just did a segment on how there are no
entry level jobs left anymore, relatively few. So what ends
up happening? What happens to those college towns. Well, when
universities on these college shower. At these college towns start
losing students, that means less money is being spent.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Well, let me give you an example.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Western Illinois University. A couple of years ago, there was
a dorm that held eight hundred students. It's now a
police training ground. Dorms nearby. Actually, frat houses have been raised.
The students used to rent them big houses. No one's
there anymore. Caleb McGruder, who worked twenty eight years for
(08:46):
the campus police at Western Illinois, said, it's almost like
you're watching the town die.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
It's real simple.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
McComb is at the heart of a new rust belt,
and what's happening is us colleges are going downhill in
terms of the amount of money. Look what's happening with
the freezes and the research grant and look what's happening
with people not going to college anymore because it's so expensive.
And when you have fewer students, you have to raise
the rents or raise the rates, raise the tuition to
(09:15):
keep things going. And it's this circle that goes all
the way down. My law school is no longer my
law school. It's defunct. And if you go to the
campus where my law school was it's empty, there's nobody there.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
And this is happening all over the country.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Now.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
The interesting part, if you find it interesting.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Is that the high end schools, the Ivys, the Ivy
League schools, the Harvard's, the standards, they are getting more
applications than ever before ever. But when you have schools
at a lower tier, it's fewer and fewer applications, fewer
and fewer students going to school because they realize that
(09:58):
a college degree isn't worth what it used to be.
Let's get a vocational certificate, which I did a segment
even that, I mean, all of it is.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Very, very tough today. I mean it's you know, we're
in a whole new world now.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
The UN and studying International business or the World Business
Forum says AI is going to create seventy eight million
new jobs. But that's over the course of years. In
the meantime, if you've lost your job, that's right now.
And these little towns that so relied, little college towns,
(10:39):
so relied on the college.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
In town nearby town.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
To support them, to support the small businesses, to support
the police departments, to to support the city because of
the taxes that were generated because there were so many students.
That's become tougher and tougher, so many students are opting out. Well, today,
if you go to a private college today, UCLA or
(11:05):
any private school, tuition can be thirty forty fifty thousand
dollars a year tuition. Forget about room and board, forget
about books and supplies.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
I don't even know if they do books anymore where
it's all internet. I know when I went.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
To school, the law books were three and four hundred
dollars books.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
What is that about? I couldn't believe it? And today, well, how.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Much is if my law school were still around. I
wonder how much tuition would be. I have no idea,
but it wouldn't be cheap because it was a private
law school. I know UCLA is fifty thousand dollars a
year tuition at law school or medical school. All right,
enough of depression. Oh yeah, Jim Kinney coming up. So
(12:00):
what we're gonna do is we're gonna dive into the
concept of a spongey prostates. We're actually not going to
dive into it, We're gonna talk about it and what's
the connection between a spongey prostate and a PSA test?
Speaker 2 (12:15):
And a prostate cancer.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
I'll explain, or Jim will explain, and it all does
tie together.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Spongy prostates.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
That sounds like a dessert, that sounds like an Italian dessert.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
You know what, I Am not going to go there.
I mean, I'm telling Neil, Neil, I we are not
going there. I am stopping you from going there. Calendar
this cono or and would you please handle is stopping
Neil from going there? Bill handle here on a Wednesday morning,
(12:50):
May twenty one, and as always on Wednesday, last two
segments of the show, we do a medical couple of
segments Doctor Jim Keaty, chief Medical Officers for Dignity Saint
Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, and.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
An er doc.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Now, just prior to the segment, I do know if
you listen to my promo, we are going to talk
about spongy prostates and PSA tests and prostate cancer. And
I know that you came very close to being a
proctologist because well, you know, for obvious reasons, and I
(13:27):
think you reluctantly, reluctantly chose er.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Correct exactly I did. Yeah, yeah, do.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
You get by the way, as an er doc, do
you have the opportunity to check out spongy prostates.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Yeah, we do tech check prostates because, yeah, I mean,
people get prostatitis, which is an infection of the prostate,
and it can get really severe they get septic from it.
So okay, right, we check from that.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
I was going to go into some kind of humor there,
but obviously it didn't work out. But one of the
things about you know this that I make a joke
about spongy prostates is that what eighty five percent of
men suffer from that after if you want to call
it suffering at the age of seventy or seventy five,
that's sort of a given. And that relates directly into
the x number of men who suffer from prostate cancer,
(14:19):
which is a huge number. And why that really doesn't
concern doctors all that much and PSA tests and how
important they are or not, and Joe Biden, I know
there's a lot of stuff going on, but can you
put all of that together and sort of explain what's
going on?
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Sure? Okay, So, first of all, the prostate is a
gland in males, right, and it's in the low pelvis,
and so it produces semen, not sperm and so it
has a function. It's a donut shape in the urethra.
The tube that you pee through goes right through the
middle of that. So you know, the first condition we
(14:58):
see in men is usually benign prostatic hyperchaphere or you know,
in large prostate, and that can get so big that
it actually squeezes off the tube and people have trouble,
trouble urinating. That can progress. I mean it's almost like
a progression or you know, an irritate, irritated prostate or
you can go straight to prostate cancer without having UH
(15:21):
in large prostate. And so you know, what what doctors
do is we check a PSA, which is a prostate
specific antigen, and as that goes up, your risk for
prostate cancer goes up as well.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
UH.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
They also do UH. Contrary to I guess what your
doctor says to you, they don't. We do prostate exams
and UH and look for a largement of the prostate
or irregularities bumps, you know, hard nodules. Now, most prostate
cancer would not be reachable there, but some of it would.
So for a simple, quick, easy, cheap test, you know,
(15:55):
why why would we slip it?
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Basically, so why are we hearing now in terms of
Joe Biden, last time he got a prostate exam was
or PSA exam was in twenty fourteen.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Ten years ago.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Following that, we're getting information and this is what's being
reported on the major news outlets that over seventy, which
he was at that time, it's not really necessary and
not even suggested that a PSA test is given for
men over seventy.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Explain all that and is that true?
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Well, I mean PSA tests are complicated as far as
you know when you get them and who you get
them in, so it's really very case dependent in some ways.
But I think in general prostate PSA is a good
test to follow whether someone that risk for prostate cancer.
So honestly, I don't see why he's gone fourteen years
(16:53):
without getting a PSA. I think most doctors nowadays, most
primary care doctor will test your PSA on an annual basis,
just part of your normal annual physical exam. There's a
lot of arguments that that results in over overtesting, right,
it results in now we got somebody worried because their
PSA has gone up, and now they're either going to
(17:16):
get nuclear scans or MRIs and ultimately get biopsies and
are we finding unnecessary cancer? And it turns out that
we do find a lot of I mean not unnecessary,
insignificant cancer. So you know, we've heard now everybody's going
to know what a Gleason score is now because of
President Biden, and that is how severe the prostate cancer is.
(17:38):
So for a Gleason, if we do a biopsy and
find a Gleason score of six or under, they're just
going to watch that. We're not going to it is cancer,
but it's a low grade cancer. We're just going to
watch it. And in those cases, their PSA will be
elevated typically not always, but but typically. So you know,
it's like I said, I could go on and on.
It's complicated. But in his case, you know, if he
(17:59):
had an elevated ps say and got a biop see
the biops he showed a glease in nine, maybe they
showed that two years ago, they would have been much
more aggressive in treatment with him earlier.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Okay, so they're now talking, we're gonna do this last one.
Then we're gonna go into a bunch of other fun topics.
And that is it is being described as a stage
four cancer which is basically, as far as I understand,
the worst stage you can be in.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
That's the last one before you basically die.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
And the doctor and a couple of the doctors who
interviewed saying, even though and it's metastasized to the bone
on top of that is that this is certainly it
can be controlled, and they're not giving us the prognosis.
But it seemed like they're spinning something. You know, it's
sort of a happy camper kind of spin on it.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Yeah, it's so individualized, it's very hard to know. Okay, mean,
if you take all comers for prostate cancer, including the worst,
you know, aggressive cancers, the five years arrival rate is
about a third, right, But that's the most aggressive ones
mixed in with pretty minor ones. Now, this is a
very aggressive cancer, but it's responsive supposedly to hormone treatment.
(19:06):
So what we do is that means that that testosterone
is a hormone that just amplifies it makes it grow.
So we essentially chemically castrate the person and stop them
from making testosterone, and a lot of times that will
stop the cancer from growing. So those people can survive
quite a long time without any additional problems. Because of that,
(19:29):
so it remains to be seen. We'll know a lot
more in about six months or a year when we say, okay,
he's been treated this way and here's what we've seen.
Your immune system can go after cancer and if we
can stop the growth, then maybe it can keep it
in check. He won't get prosettectomy at this point because
the cat's out of the bag. Trying to remove the
(19:50):
prostate now just results in complications and side effects without
any benefit.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Fair enough, and we're going to know the kind of treatment,
how expensive treatment.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Is because of the size of his breast growing. Do
I have that right?
Speaker 3 (20:06):
That's different than getting estra?
Speaker 1 (20:08):
No?
Speaker 3 (20:08):
I don't think God.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Okay, So there I am doctor Handle once again. All right,
coming back, This is fun and I'm going you came
up with this and that I'm gonna read this verbatim.
Good vibrations, a buzzing capsule that relieves constipation, and somehow
I'm going to tie that back into spongy prostates, if
you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
I'll be right back, Bill Handle.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
As we end our Wednesday show, May twenty one, Gary
and Shannon coming up at the top of the hour,
and back we go.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
As we always do.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Around this time on Wednesday, doctor Jim Keeney's chief medical
officers for Dignity Saint Mary Medical Center in Long Beach,
and an er doc. All right, this one, Jim, you
know I had to jump on this one. Good vibrations
coma a buzzing capsule that relievestation. Not even ask you
(21:02):
a question on that one other than hey, you take
it from here.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Yeah. Once I saw that article, I jumped up immediately
called an and said, I have an article for Bill Handle.
This is this is his material right here. So yeah,
so this is I love simple and you know, simple things,
low cost and something that's easy that solves a problem. Right,
instead of taking all these chemicals and drugs for constipation,
(21:30):
which a lot of people suffer from, they have a
vibrating pill. You just swallow this pill. It vibrates, that
stimulates the intestines, and it's apparently very effective with almost
no side effects for relieving constipation. Now, in the study,
the reason people dropped out of the study is they
required them to dig for the pill to reuse it,
(21:51):
and when people were told they had to do that,
they dropped out.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Yeah that makes sense. Is that because the pill was
so expensive.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
I think they just only had so many prototypes, right,
so we gotta we got to use this again if
you want.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
To reuse it. Yeah, that's funny.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Although whenever you do, if I'm not mistaken, there is
what what's the test that you take with a pill?
Speaker 2 (22:14):
A camera that goes down to.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
Colon cancer testing? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Yeah, but that you know, but you don't hunt for it.
They just let that one go.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
So what's the technology? I mean, did the article go
beyond that?
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Is? I'm assuming there's some kind of battery power in there,
and of course down they do. You know, the miniaturization
is crazy with the technology. Is it a Mexican jumping
bean with a little worm that squirms around inside the capsule?
Speaker 2 (22:43):
I don't.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
I mean, honestly, I just assumed it was, you know,
basic vibrator technology miniaturized into a pill.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Wow, it's pretty impressive, I guess.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
Yeah. Yeah, so it's it isn't available just out there.
You go the drug store and go, I'd like the
vibrating pill.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
No, it's a study. So I do not recommend anybody
swallowing their their small vibrators for constipation. But it's a
study and it's not commercially available yet, but it looks
like it's well on the way because I mean, look,
with minimal side effects, safety profile is going to be
very good, and so the FDA should approve it as
a medical device.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Let's talk about people swallowing me their big vibrators medically.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
Why did I put in my mouth.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
You doing?
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Thank you for that? That was a puffball.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
That was a softball, Jim, all right? Uh, moving on
gene editing in a live person. Now, that one intrigues
me because, uh, gene I didn't go with that one.
I didn't quite understand. Does that mean gene editing and
dead people is the norm?
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Explain that.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
So up until this patient, all we've ever done is
that everybody's heard now Crisper technology, which is where you
take and you take a repeating gene to be able
to insert a new gene into a human cell and
you can change the DNA that way. We've never done
it in a person up until a couple months ago,
and this is now published. First time ever they injected
(24:22):
the Crisper mechanisms into an infant. This infant was doomed
for a horrible life right there. So there's a metabolic
disorder where you can't you can't process protein and you
end up building up ammonia in your body. You go
in deoliver failure. As it goes slowly, it can also
cause encephalitis and brain damage, so a horrible disease and
(24:45):
you literally can't eat protein. And this baby. What they
did is they injected the fix for that because there's
a genetic disorder that can't process protein in one gene.
So they went ahead and injected the Crisper technology to
fix this one genetic defect, and now the child is
able to tolerate. Now, you know, everybody thinks it's clean,
(25:05):
like black and white, like now every cell in the
body will be fixed. So it doesn't quite work that way,
but there's an improvement, and there's enough improvement that the
child able to eat protein, is able to have a
low ammonia level, so no damage to body organs. And
this is it's crazy. So this is amazing leap forward
(25:26):
in technology. This is personalized medicine where we're going to
be able to fix genetic disorders in the future by
injecting this mechanism into the body and allowing it to
alter your DNA. That's that's one thing. Right. In the past,
we've we've been very hesitant and still are hesitant about
what do we You know, you alter somebody's DNA that
can be permanent. If it goes haywire, we're in big trouble.
(25:47):
But in this case, you know is able to save
this child.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Yeah, you're in a field where the technology explodes day today,
which is kind of neat and which I really enjoy
talk to you about it every weekend and off the era.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
We talk and I make fun of you too. Jim
will catch you next week as always. All right, all right,
you have a good one.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Jim Keeney, chief medical Officer for Dignity Saint Mary Medical
Center in Long Beach. We're done, guys. That is it
back again tomorrow. I don't know if Amy's coming back
or not, but Heather will be with us if not,
and we will continue on Gary and Shannon up next
and we'll see him Maniana.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
You've been listening to the Bill Handle Show.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Catch My show Monday through Friday six am to nine am,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
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